On the processing of irrelevant information: Load, dilution and evolution:
In the first part of my talk, I will provide a short critical review of the theory of perceptual load. I will examine the basic tenets and assumptions of the theory and will single out major conceptual and methodological problems that have been largely ignored in the literature. I will then go on to show how findings that are commonly interpreted as supporting perceptual load theory can be better interpreted in terms of an alternative dilution account. In the second part of my talk I will argue that contrary to load theory (and other leading theories) irrelevant information receives processing priority. I will present evidence showing that the attentional system actively allocates resources to to-be ignored distractors. It will be proposed that the system of focused attention is heavily influenced by phylogenetic mechanisms favored by natural selection, as well as by ontogenetic mechanisms developed and shaped by life experience. Hence, allocating all resources for the performance of the central task is inefficient. I will propose an alternative system that allocates substantial resources for task performance, but at the same time preserves necessary attention for monitoring the environment for potentially significant objects.